NAB: IPTV going strong in 2009, Minerva says

IPTV sales are going strong in 2009, according to the chief executive officer of  middleware maker Minerva Networks. On the eve of the NAB show, at which Minerva is teaming with Amino Networks to showcase whole home Digital Video Recorder capabilities, Mauro Bonomi said more service providers are realizing the advantages of an all-IP system, despite some early problems.

"We're a privately owned company, so we don't release numbers, but we had a very good Q4 of 2008 and a very good Q1 of 2009," Bonomi. "We see a very exciting pipeline."

IPTV deployment by independent telcos, who are most of Minerva's North American customers, took some hard knocks based on problems IPTV pioneers had trying to upgrade their systems to include features such as DVR and High-Definition.

Bonomi said his IPTV service providers are seeing uptake on services by consumers, despite the economic downturn. "Consumers are still enjoying the services and buying better television services," Bonomi said. "There is a demand by the consumers. The second thing – yes, some operators have been very cautious in embracing technology – finally after many years of pushing, they are realizing that an IP-based system can offer the reliability of cable but also functionality beyond what cable can offer, with more flexible personalized viewing, converged communications services, with widgets and advanced apps that are easier to implement in an IP environment. When they deploy an IPTV solution, they are pulling away from cable or satellite competition. We see good momentum. Given the economy we are very pleased with the results."

The whole-home DVR capability that Minerva and Amino are showcasing at NAB isn't generally available yet to Minerva customers, but will be available this quarter. Independent telcos who are Minerva customers can upgrade existing DVR-capable set-top boxes – those with storage – in the field, transparent to the customer and offer this new functionality, Bonomi said. "That's the beauty of it, existing customers can reflash the set-top box with new software, transparent to the customer," Bonomi said.

One set-top box becomes the master, and can share recorded programming with other set-top boxes in the home, connected over the home network, Bonomi said. Different set-top boxes in the home will have different limitations, in terms of available throughput, High Definition capability, etc., but IPTV service providers "know what's in the field and can configure the devices so the consumer doesn't experience a bottleneck," Bonomi said.

Amino is the first set-top box maker to be ready for whole-home DVR, but there will be others, Bonomi said. "Our system is based on industry standards, and we work with a number of companies."